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Obama Praises Afghan Boys, Girls Bravery Against Violence in Final UN Address
President Obama, in his final address as president before the U.N. General Assembly, and his farewell speech praised Afghan boys and girls breathtaking efforts.
Barak Obama said about those boys and girls in Afghanistan who learns for their lives and reject extremism; such as Daesh group.
“I think of the girls who have braved taunts or violence just to go to school in Afghanistan, and the university students who started programs online to reject the extremism of organizations like ISIL,” President Obama said in his final address to the United Nations General Assembly.
He noted about terrorist networks who use social media for hunting youths brains and ignite rage against Muslims and refugees.
“Terrorist networks use social media to prey upon the minds of our youth, endangering open societies and spurring anger against innocent immigrants and Muslims. Powerful nations contest the constraints placed on them by international law,” Obama added.
President Obama also called for more global cooperation especially in helping refugees from war-torn countries – while making only passing reference to the Islamic State and the ever-expanding scourge of like-minded terror groups.
President Obama, in his final address as president before the U.N. General Assembly, called Tuesday for more global cooperation especially in helping refugees from war-torn countries – while making only passing reference to the Islamic State and the ever-expanding scourge of like-minded terror groups.
The president called for a “course correction” for globalization to ensure nations don’t retreat into a more sharply divided world, while pushing back against an isolationist approach gaining popularity in many countries.
He advocated for open democracies and open economies, while railing against the example set by Russia and calling for more tolerance in all nations.
He also took what appeared to be a jab at Donald Trump, saying: “The world is too small for us to simply be able to build a wall” and prevent extremism from affecting societies.
With that message in hand, Obama urged nations to “follow through even when the politics are hard,” in helping refugees fleeing conflict.
“We have to open our hearts and do more to help refugees who are desperate for a home,” he said. “We have to have the empathy to see ourselves.”
The appeal comes ahead of a refugee summit Obama was hosting Tuesday afternoon with the leaders of Jordan, Mexico, Sweden, Germany, Canada and Ethiopia, along with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Yet despite Obama’s focus toward the end of his speech on the refugee crisis, he made little mention of terrorism, aside from describing how persecution and intolerance in the Middle East contributed to the Syrian civil war and the “mindless medieval menace” of ISIS – and saying this violence “will not be quickly reversed.”
In the meantime, As annual general debate begins, Secretary-General called for world leaders’ commitment to ‘new heights of solidarity’ in forging better future.
“My message to all is clear,” Mr. Ban said in opening remarks. “Serve your people. Do not subvert democracy; do not pilfer your country’s resources; do not imprison and torture your critics.” In too many places, leaders were rewriting constitutions, manipulating elections and taking other desperate measures that would enable them to cling to power. Holding office was a trust granted by the people, not personal property, he emphasized.
Secretary-General Ban said that after 10 years in office, he was more convinced than ever that “we have the power to end war, poverty and persecution”.
The Sustainable Development Goals offered a manifesto for a better future, and the Paris Agreement on climate change, a blueprint for tackling the “defining challenge of our time”.
And yet, those gains were threatened by conflict and failures of governance that had pushed societies over the brink.
Their tragic consequences were on full display from Yemen to Libya and Iraq, from Afghanistan to the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, he said.
In Syria, many groups had killed innocent people, but none more so than that country’s Government.
Attending the general debate today were representatives of Governments that had ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned atrocities against Syrian civilians, he noted.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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